The document provides an overview of the transition from a unipolar world dominated by the United States and Soviet Union following World War 2 to the emergence of the Cold War between 1945-1953. It discusses the decline of European powers, the rise of the US and USSR as global superpowers with opposing ideologies, and the initial cooperation and increasing tensions that developed between the two sides. Key events that exacerbated tensions included the US intervention in the Russian Civil War, the lack of diplomatic recognition of the USSR until 1934, differing views over spheres of influence in Eastern Europe, and US use of atomic weapons which initiated an arms race between the superpowers.

1. A Bipolar
World
1945-1953

2. Issues
• Why a biopolar world?
• What are the origins of
the Cold War?

3. Why a
Biopolar
World?
• Decline of Great European Powers
• Germany defeated.
• Decolonization of French and British
Empires.
• Western Europe reliant on US for
security.
• Rise of the USSR as a global power
• Rise of the United States as a global power
• Increasing influence of communism as an
alternative to capitalism.

4. Cold War:
Causes
• U.S. intervention in Russian Civil War.
• No diplomatic recognition of USSR until
1934
• “Allies of convenience”
• Distrust over “Second Front.”
• Two superpowers with opposed ideologies
• Two superpowers with opposed goals
• US: “open door”
• USSR: security sphere
• The Atlantic Charter

5. The Atlantic Charter
A New World Order?
• There was to be global economic
cooperation and advancement of
social welfare.
• Freedom from want and fear;
• Freedom of the seas;
• Disarmament of aggressor
nations, postwar common
disarmament
• No territorial gains were to be sought
by the United States or the United
Kingdom.
• Territorial adjustments must be in
accord with the wishes of the peoples
concerned.
• All peoples had a right to self-
determination.
• Trade barriers were to be lowered.
• Agreement between Roosevelt and Churchill August
14, 1941.
• Endorsed by Soviet Union, September 1941.
• Blueprint for postwar order: United Nations.

6. But was it workable in
postwar?
• Roosevelt’s brainchild.
• Self-determination for all peoples
• Britain and France empires
• Communist parties powerful in Western
Europe.
• Friendly and secure borders
• USSR has security concerns. Wants “buffer
zone”.
• Roosevelt wanted to avoid specifics
• rely on postwar personal relations, but
Roosevelt dies.
• rely on “four policemen” after war: UK, US,
USSR, China. But have competing interests.

7. Wartime Precedents
• Oct. 1944: Stalin and
Churchill’s “percentages
agreement”. Divides
spheres of influence.
• Dec. 1944: British put
down Greek communist
revolt. Stalin doesn’t
interfere.
• Feb. 1945: Yalta
Conference
• no challenge to
spheres
• Self determination?
• Friendly and secure
borders?

8. Stalin’s
Postwar
Vision
• USSR is shambles, Stalin needs economic
aid from US. Needs security and willing to
negotiate.
• $10 billion in reparations from Germany
to rebuild country.
• Buffer zone of friendly governments. Fear
of an expansionist US.
• A postwar world of mutually recognized
“spheres of interest.”
• “Peaceful coexistence” between two
systems. The better would be decided by
history.
• Wants maximum concessions in
negotiations. Soviet Union is weak but has
political capital.

9. Enter Harry Truman
• Becomes President when Roosevelt dies
April, 1945.
• Left out of the diplomatic loop.
• Truman takes hardline toward USSR.
• Abruptly ends Lend-Lease
• Opposes “spheres of influence”
• Demands elections in Eastern Europe:
“Open door policy.”
• Sets precedent for “atomic diplomacy.”

10. Potsdam Conference
July-August 1945
• Potsdam Agreement:
• Allied occupation of
Germany.
• Denazification and war
crimes trials.
• Expulsions of Germans
was Western Poland.
• United States dropped
atomic bomb a few days
after Potsdam.
• To get Japan to
surrender or scare
Stalin?
• Prevent Soviet sphere
in Japan?

11. Atomic diplomacy
US strategy
• Bomb part of reversal of US
policy on USSR
• “Open door” policy in East
Europe
• Reversal of “spheres of
influence”
• To soften Soviets.
• Ushers in an intense arms race
and the creation of the
“military-industrial complex.”

12. Atomic Diplomacy:
The Soviet Response
• Stalin: “Nuclear
blackmail” and
“intended to
intimidate the weak-
nerved.”
• Stalin makes building
a bomb the priority.
• Stalin becomes more
intransigent in
negotiations.
• Begins the arms race
between the USSR
and United States.
• Explodes bomb
August 29, 1949.

13. Population
Transfers & Ethnic
Cleansing, 1945-50
• Jewish concentration camp
survivors
• Forced Migration of
Germans and others
• Potsdam Agreement
between US, UK, and
USSR
• Shift of Polish borders –
7 million Germans
forced relocated.

14. Transfer of Territory

15. Soviet
Domination

16. The Logic of
Soviet
Imperialism
• Stalin understandings
• Long history of war in Europe
• Short term goal for security
• Logical outcome of Soviet military
occupation
• Contradictions
• Eastern European Elites discredited
• Communist Parties were domestically
weak

17. Sovietization of the East
Two periods:
• 1945-47: Soviets support coalition
democratically elected governments.
• Soviet backed governments institute
land reform, nationalization of
industry, and expropriation of wealthy
classes.
• 1947-53: Full Stalinization.
• Communist dictatorship, purge of
ruling classes, ended “national road,”
elimination of political opposition.

18. Soviet Economic
Integration of Eastern
Europe
• Dismantling industry from Eastern Germany
as reparations.
• Institution of command economy.
• Trade treaties and joint-stock companies with
Soviet Union.
• Makes Eastern Europe economically
dependent on USSR.

19. Truman Doctrine
• To contain the spread of communism not just in
Europe but on a global scale.
• Predicated on an inherently expansionist Soviet Union
and the “domino theory.”
• “We shall not realize our objectives, however, unless
we are willing to help free peoples to maintain their
free institutions and their national integrity against
aggressive movements that seek to impose upon them
totalitarian regimes. This is no more than a frank
recognition that totalitarian regimes imposed on free
peoples, by direct or indirect aggression, undermine
the foundations of international peace and hence the
security of the United States.”
• Defined American foreign policy toward Russia until
1991 and beyond . . .

20. Cold War at Home
• Andrei Zhdanov: Soviet Union’s sacrifices
during the war aren’t being recognized.
• Zhdanovshchina: “Two camps” One
imperialistic headed by the US and one
democratic led by the Soviet Union.
• Anti-cosmopolitan campaign
• Attacks Western influence on Soviet culture.
• Attempts to force intelligentsia to conform to
principles of Soviet patriotism.
• Anti-Semitism and “rootless
cosmopolitanism”.
• Impacted arts and literature, but also sciences,
history, and Soviet academia in general.

21. The
German
Question
• The Four “D”s: demilitarization, disarmament,
denazification, and democratization.
• Stalin also wants fifth “d”: dismemberment, but
dropped when Americans and British refused.
• Four solutions:
• Dismemberment: USSR and France.
• United neutral Germany: USSR
• Soviet domination of all of Germany: USSR
• Western domination of all of Germany: US,
Britain.
• Only solution: division of Germany into an
Eastern and Western zone.

22. Berlin Question
• Occupied by all four powers: US,
Britain, France, and USSR
• Soviets want Berlin part of East
Germany.
• March 6, 1948 Western powers declare
a separate West German government.
• Stalin’s gamble: block access corridor
in response. Wants to get West back to
negotiations on Berlin.
• Berlin airlift until May 1949.
• Stalin’s gamble fails. Allows West to
paint him as aggressor and gives West
reason to form a military alliance
NATO

23. Germany Divided
West and East
Germany
West and East Berlin

24. Who is to blame?
Two views:
• Orthodox: Cold War was the result of Soviet
expansionism. The US had to protect the “free world”
from domination.
• Revisionist: Cold War was the result of mutual distrust.
Stalin was conservative and cautious.
• Hard revisionists: US to blame. Wants to expand its economic
and military hegemony.
• Soft revisionists: Cold War was a failure of American policy.
• Since 1991, Soviet archives show Stalin as both realist
and pragmatic. Understood Soviet weakness and feared
West would take advantage and wanted a buffer zone.
Didn’t want to antagonize the West.

25. The Thaw
Public and Private Life after Stalin

26. New “collective” Leadership
• Power vacuum. Two factions. Beria-Malenkov vs.
Khrushchev and Party Secretaries.
• No designated successor.
• Collective leadership-Malenkov, Beria, Khrushchev. Need
to solidify and consolidate power.
• Reduced Presidium from 25 to 10 members
• Reduced State ministries from 51 to 25.
• Announce a amnesty for prisoners. Released over a million
people from prisons and camps.
• Nonpolitical crimes especially theft, common criminals
• Released and rehabilitated Doctor’s Plot, Leningrad Affair,
and Mingrelian Affair.
• No other political rehabilitations.
• Power struggle in the making.
Vs.

27. Who is Nikita Khrushchev?
•One of Stalin’s “new men” of the 1930s.
•Born a peasant in Kalinkova in Central
Russia.
•Rose rapidly in Party ranks. Headed
Moscow in mid-1930s, then Ukraine
Party in 1938. Made Politburo member
in 1939. First Secretary of Party in
September 1953.
•Known for being crude and outspoken,
but also affable.
•Seen as a clown, but a brilliant politician
and intriguer.

28. The Rise of
Khrushchev, 1953-1956
• Agricultural reform: lower taxes, higher
prices for peasants. “Virgin Lands”
expansion of agriculture in Kazakhstan.
300,000 volunteers.
• Housing expansion: Construction of
“khrushcheviki” apartments desperately
needed in cities.
• Promises new leadership to Party
elite: repudiate terror, focus economic
plans on consumers, and increase material
incentives to working people, collective
leadership instead of one person,
decentralize central state control, reduce
police power.

29. The “Secret Speech” Abroad
and in Soviet Society
• Socialist parties mostly responded
hesitantly and sought guidance from
Moscow as to how widely the speech
should be disseminated.
• Increasingly felt betrayed in an
information vacuum while the Western
press got started on the story.
• Led to many leaving and splits in
Communist Parties.
• In the USSR, the speech was read to
Party and Komsomol organizations. 7
million Party members and 18 million
Komsomol members heard the speech
and intense discussions erupted at the
local level.
• Led to outcries about rehabilitation,
confusion, and in some cases conflicts
over Stalin.

30. Reaction to “Secret
Speech” in the East
• Different “roads to
socialism”
• Political openness
• Criticism and
removal of
Stalinists
• Two examples:
• Polish October
• Hungarian
Revolution

31. “Polish October”
• Protests in Poznan
• Removal of Defense Minister
Konstanty Rokossowski
• Appointment of Wladislaw
Gomulka to head government
• National face of Polish
communism

32. Road to Hungarian
Revolution
Imre Nagy experiment,
1953
• Has clean hands
• Begins program of
liberalization
• Removed by Hungarian
hardliners in 1955

33. Hungarian Revolution, 1956
October 16, 1956
• Sixteen Point Manifesto
October 23
• Parliament Square Protest
• Nagy named Prime Minister
• Decrees marshal law.
October 28
• Nagy announces truce with protesters and
calls for withdrawal of Soviet military and
abolition of Secret Police.
October 30
• Protestors attack Hungarian Party
Headquarters, 24 dead
• Clashes with police, counter-attacks,
lynchings.
Nagy increasingly places himself at center of
Revolution
• Multiparty government
• “Free, democratic and independent
Hungary”
• Hungary as neutral
• Removal of Soviet troops
Soviet troops invade
Resistance crushed in 72 hours
Janos Kadar installed as head of government.

34. What is the Thaw?
• Ottepel – liberalization and openness
• Denunciation of Stalin
• End to mass terror and release of gulag
prisoners
• More openness in literature, film, and art
• Publication of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich in
1962.
• Peaceful coexistence with the West

35. Private Life in the
USSR
• Soviet Socialism seeks to break
public/private divide.
• How to understand private sphere?
• Linguistic constraints
• Privatnost, chastnyi, lichnaia zhizn,
lichnost, obshchestvennost, publichnyi
• Three concepts:
• “Doublethink”
• Bifurcated public and intense private
• “Flexithink”
• For a Soviet notion of “personal” life.

36. Making a Soviet
“Personal Life”
• Rediscovery of Personal dignity
• Complex, morally ambiguous
characters
• Ilya Ehrenburg, The Thaw, 1954
• Vladimir Dudintsev, Not By
Bread Alone, 1956
• Different Fates, 1956
• Petitioning the “Socialist contract”

37. Consuming
“Personal Life”
• “Khrushchevka”
• 35 million apartments built,
130 million new residents,
1955-1970
• Increasing consumer demand.
• Radios, televisions, & small
appliances.
• Domestic and foreign tourism
• The dacha and the car.

38. Public Policing of the
Personal
• People’s patrols (druzhina)
• 4.5 million members in 1965
• Comrade’s courts
• 5,580 courts with 50,000 participants
in Moscow by 1965
• Anti-religious campaigns of 1958
• 22,000 in 1959 to 13,008 in 1960 and
to 7,873 by 1965
• Stilyagi